


Trust Your Instincts

by TsiaBonasera



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Violence, repost from my ffnet
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-27
Updated: 2018-06-27
Packaged: 2019-05-29 13:46:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,508
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15074447
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TsiaBonasera/pseuds/TsiaBonasera
Summary: A multi-chapter fic that focuses mainly on Emily and the Team, when Emily falls hand to a ruthless unsub. Set late in season 7. Disclaimer: I own nothing. Repost from my FFnet.





	1. Chapter 1

_Ring Ring_. Emily slowly awoke from her much needed sleep and rolled over on her bed to retrieve her phone from the nightstand. "Prentiss" She answered half asleep.

"Sorry Em, we got a case, round table room, one hour" Garcia's perky voice said on the other end.

"Okay" Emily grunted before hanging up. She put her phone back down on the nightstand and started to sit up on her bed. Sergio startled her as he came dashing through her bedroom door and up onto her bed. "Serg, you scared me for a minute" Emily said softly, while petting his hair. He started purring and Emily laughed slightly before getting up and heading in to the bathroom to shower.

* * *

As Emily walked into the bull pen she glanced up at the clock, 2:30am, and rolled her eyes. She stopped at her desk and put down her coat and purse before continuing up the small flight of stairs to the round table room. As she walked though the doorway she saw the familiar faces of Hotch, Rossi, JJ, and Garcia all seated around the table all quietly sipping their coffee. She walked over to the table with the coffee pot and poured herself a very large cup. She grabbed two splenda packets and poured them in, followed by a packet of half & half and stirred it all together. She joined the team at the table and they all sat quietly sipping their coffee until Morgan and Reid finally showed up ten minutes later.

"What took you so long?" A very tired J shot out.

"I had to pick up boy genius here cause his car broke down" Morgan answered back, annoyed, while glaring at Reid.

"Hey you agreed to give me a ride. I was gonna call Emily" Reid spat out quickly, shooting a quick smile and Emily.

"Calm down children" Garcia said as she stood up "I have a case to present" She continued. Morgan and Reid grumbled and walked to the table and sat down.

"Okay, Police responded to a suspicious persons call in Green Bay, Wisconsin behind a local high school, and when they arrived, they found this." Garcia pointed her remote at the screen and a picture of a young man in his mid teens with blonde hair wrapped in a blanket appeared on the screen. "Jacob Schneider, he attends the high school where the body was found. They need our help, since this is the third murder with eh same M.O… all of the victims have had their femoral arteries slashed with a curved blade. All of the cases are yet unsolved." Garcia clicked the remote a few more times and two other pictures of young boys who looked eerily similar to each other popped up on the screen.

"Well we see he has a specific victim type and body disposal method" JJ began the discussion. Everyone had the case file open in front of them and was skimming the details.

"All the boys went to that high school, so there is definitely a connection to the school, but only the last boy was dumped near the school, the other two were at least five miles away." Emily pointed out.

"Okay, wheels up in thirty" Hotch announced before getting up and walking into his office and shutting the door. Rossi went to his office as well and the rest of the team dispersed into the bull pen to grab their go bags.

"Hey Emily, you alright?" Morgan asked when he glanced over at her and saw the lifeless expression on her face. She looked up at him confused and said "Yeah, I'm fine, just tired" with a masking smile. She had had a bad feeling ever since she got up, like something bad was going to happen, but she shook it off and kept it to herself.

* * *

As she asked up the stairs to enter the jet the dark feeling in the pit of her stomach worsened. She shook it off again and stepped into the jet. JJ and her were the only people on the jet so far. JJ was seated at the table at one of the window seats. Emily took the seat directly across from her and greeted her with "Hey".

"Hey" JJ replied, in between sips of her coffee.

Emily opened up the case file that was already at the seats and started skimming through it again. Within minutes Rossi and Hotch both came on board. Rossi sat in the seat next to JJ and Hotch took the seat next to Emily. They all exchanged small greetings and soon they were all skimming the file once again. Morgan and Reid were the last to board the jet so they sat on the couch for the plane briefing. The jet soon took off and they were again discussing the case, but Emily couldn't' get the dark feeling out of her thoughts and sat there quietly until the end of the briefing when JJ asked "Hey Em, you okay?" Emily broke out of her slight daze and answered "What, oh yeah, I'm fine, really."

Nobody looked entirely convinced by her assurance but blew it off as being tired, except for Hotch. Emily glanced to here side and saw Hotchs worried face. She hated it when he worried but she couldn't do anything about it. Ever since she told him she was having a bad day a couple months ago he had been watching out for her and checking up on her. She liked it that somebody cared, but she knew that in a few moments he would ask to talk to her alone and she hated talking about her feelings.

"Can I talk to you for a second?" He asked, right on cue. She just nodded her head and followed him to the small kitchenette area of the jet.

"How are you doing?" He asked sweetly. Emily was beginning to get annoyed and responded with "I'm fine! Really! Why does everybody keep asking me that?" as she let out an annoyed sigh.

"Because we care about you and it seems like something is wrong" Hotch told her. Emily looked to the side and saw the entire team watching them as they talked and gave JJ a glare telling her to stop. JJ knew exactly what the glare meant and got everyone else to stop staring as well.

"Something is wrong. I know. I can tell." Hotch said quietly

"Nothing is wrong!" Emily angrily whispered back.

"Emily" Hotch said with a tilt of his head.

Emily sighed and said "Fine, I have this feeling, like something bad is gonna happen, and it's been bugging me since I got the call for the case" There was a moment of complete silence as Hotch tried to figure out what to say.

"Everything is going to be fine, I promise." He assured her.

"It's the same feeling I had when Doyle was after me" Emily admitted, dropping her gaze to the floor. Hotch's face turned ghost white at the mention of Doyle's name. There was silence, again, until Hoch said "Doyle's dead, he can't hurt you anymore." Emily started to shake slightly and JJ who was still watching got up rushed over to them. She pulled Hotch over back by the table, away from Emily and whispered angrily "What did you say to her?"

"I just said that Doyle couldn't hurt her anymore." He responded defensively

"What?! Why would you even mention Doyle to her?" JJ whisper shouted.

"I was trying to help!" He said surprised at JJ's anger

"Well you're doing more harm than good, look at her" JJ said turning him in Emily's direction before continuing "She's still healing and drudging up the past won't help with that, so you go sit down and I will try to fix your mess"

Hotch did what he was told and sat back down in the seat and he could feel the entire teams wondering gazes locked on him. JJ went back to Emily and closed the dividing curtain so they could have a least some privacy.

"I'm fine JJ" Emily said immediately, trying to get out of it.

"No you're not, and you can't lie to me, I'm your best friend" JJ said softly, full of care. Emily breathed slowly and started to pick at her nails.

"I'm here, relax, you're okay, come on. Sit down right here and breathe through it okay" They both sat down on the floor with their backs resting against the cupboards.

"Okay, just breathe Em. It'll all pass in a few minutes, just breathe" JJ instructed her. They sat there like that for a good ten minutes, and with each passing minute Emily grew calmer until she felt just like herself again.

"Thanks JJ" Emily said as she stood up and opened up the curtain. Hotch and Rossi both got up to allow the women back into their seats. "I'm sorry" Hotch whispered to Emily as she slid back into her seat.

"It's okay" She said with a soft smile "I'm good" She said with a thankful look cast over in JJ's direction.

"Why doesn't everybody get some sleep before we land" Hotch announced. Nobody had anything against it and got comfortable in their seats and drifted off to sleep, Except Emily and Hotch. He looked around to make sure everybody was asleep before putting his arm around Emily and bringing her in for a tight hug while gently kissing the top of her head. He was overjoyed when her saddened expression turned into a small smile.

"What if someone sees us?" Emily asked laughing slightly.

"They're all asleep" He said returning her smile.

"Good" Emily said before turning towards him, putting her left hand on his cheek and pressing her lips softly against his. When she pulled away he said "You should get some sleep, you look exhausted" He used the arm he had around her to pull her closer to him so she could relax. She closed her eyes and asked "What about you?"

"I am completely happy just like this" He replied, making her smile before she drifted off to sleep. He just watched her sleep in his arms for a few moments and thought about how lucky he was.

"You're quite happy for four in the morning" Rossi's deep voice startled him. Trying to deny what was happening Hotch said "It's not what it looks like!"

"Relax, Aaron, I already know about you two" Rossi said sitting up in his chair. Hotch was partially surprised, they had been so discrete he wasn't sure how he knew. "Wait? How did you know?"

"You both have been happier, the little looks you give each other…plus I saw you kissing in the parking garage." Rossi responded with a smirk.

"Don't tell her you know" Hotch pleaded

"You guys are gonna have to tell the rest of team sometime you know" Rossi added.

"Yeah, but we aren't ready to tell them yet, It's only been a couple of months" Hotch said

"You know JJ probably already knows anyway" Rossi continued

"How would she know?" Hotch asked

"She and Emily are best friends. And women talk Aaron. You should know this." Rossi explained

JJ suddenly stirred and woke up, she looked at Hotch and Emily, the former who was completely white now and laughed a bit.

"Relax Hotch, I already know, I saw you guys kissing in your office, you really should be more careful before Strauss finds out." She said smiling

All the talking made Emily stir and wake up again, with both Rossi and JJ staring at her Emily sat up completely slightly confused since she was still half asleep. Emily quickly put the pieces together and asked "Are you the only two that know?"

"As far as I know, yup." Rossi said.

The rest of the plane ride was slightly awkward until the plane started to land and Morgan and Reid woke up. The four of them acted like nothing had happened and disembarked the plane like usual and were greeted by a mid 40's female police officer, who looked like she was in charge who said "Welcome to Wisconsin"


	2. Chapter 2

The team walked into the Green Bay police station located downtown and were directed to a conference room near the back where they would be able to set up. Once the files were all unpacked, Hotch directed Morgan and Reid to go to the latest crime scene, JJ and Rossi to work on victimolgy at the station and Himself and Prentiss would talk to the faculty and students at the high school.

* * *

"I think we should tell them" Hotch blurted out when the SUV was stopped at a red light near the school. "I mean half the team already knows!" He continued

"Yeah, your right, with my track record with secrets I think that would be best. Why don't we tell them after we check into our hotel tonight?" Emily suggested, glancing over at him. "Sounds good, and thank you." He said "For what?" Emily asked

"For understanding me wanting to tell the team about us. And for just being you." He said with a smile as he reached out and squeezed her hand on the consol between them.

The light turned green and they drove for a few blocks before they found West High School. They parked in an open parking spot in the front parking lot of the school and gathered up their things and made their way to the door. Hotch clicked on the door buzzer until they were let into the building. When they walked passed the first set of doors they were greeted by the schools liaison officer and one of the schools principals.

"Hello, I'm assistant principal Griggs" The petite, brown haired woman said. "This is officer

Vogel" She continued, gesturing toward the plain clothed, tall man standing beside her. "I'm agent Hotchner and this is agent Prentiss." He introduced. "We're going to need to speak with some of the faculty and students in a private area that is quiet" He continued. "You can use our Student Services office, I'll can show you there now if you like" Griggs told them. Hotch nodded and the principal led them past a circular security desk and some windows displaying offices. They came up to a small hallway to the left and turned into it, passing an array of trophy cases and mailboxes until they saw the office labeled 'Student Services'. When she led them into the office it was quiet except for the soft sound of a radio coming from the secretary's desk. The secretary was a young , blonde haired woman in her early twenties.

"Ahnna, these are the FBI agents that were sent here to investigate the recent student deaths, they will be using the offices for their interviews, tell Jim and Holly that they will need to utilize different offices for the day so the agents can conduct their interviews." The principal instructed the secretary, who simply nodded and walked off to inform the counselors. "If there is anything we can do to help please let me know, But if you'd excuse me, I really need to get back to my office." She continued before shaking hands with Hotch and Prentiss and walking out the door.

As they looked onto the rest of the room they saw various offices lining the walls. Inspirational posters hung everywhere and college and military brochures stacked on shelves on the right side of the room.

"Agents, if you'd follow me I can show you the offices you'll be using." Ahnna reappeared and told them. She led them to the back of the room and to a smaller hallway that had two separate offices in it and told them they could pick whichever they liked, before going back to her desk.

Each room had small round tables, perfect for their interviews. They got set up in their rooms quickly and then met in the hallway to consult before calling the students down.

"I have a list of kids that were close to the victims, you talk the girls, I'll take the boys then we'll do the staff interviews together." Hotch said. Emily nodded and took a copy of the student list from his hand before going back into her office with a smile.

* * *

Four hours. It had been four hours and Emily was finally done with her interviews, and Hotch was almost done with his last one. Emily walked out of the office just in time to see Hotch's last interview walk out the main door. "Hey, you get anything useful?" Emily asked as she took a seat at his table. "No, just that the victims were all good kids, didn't drink, didn't do drugs…they were model students" He said, a little disappointed.

"Same here." Emily sighed, leaning back in her chair.

"I think we should take a break before we start the staff interviews. I don't know about you, but I'm starving." Hotch said as he packed up the files he had spread out on the table. "Thank god! I thought you'd never say that!" Emily smirked and walked back into her office to collect her things. She picked up the files and put them into her messenger bag that was now slung across her shoulder. "Ready?" Hotch asked, sticking his head in the door of her office. "Yeah" She said with a smile

"I think there's a Mexican restaurant up the street, we can just walk, it's pretty nice out." Hotch replied. "Fine by be." Emily said with a small laugh. They walked up to the young secretary and confirmed that there was in fact a Mexican restaurant down the street before leaving the office. They walked back down the trophy filled hallway, past the circle desk and out the main doors. It was a clear spring day, about seventy degrees. They began to walk up the street, and they could already see the restaurant. They walked in silence, both enjoying the day until they were about a block away from the school and Hotch said "Emily" and stopped walking. She immediately turned to face him and smiled saying "Yeah?". Her smile quickly faded as she noticed his neutral expression, not sure of how to react.

"We've been dating for six months now, and I um…wanted to know if you wanted to move in with me?" He asked hesitantly. After a moment of silence Emily smiled with pure joy and said "Yes! Of course!". Hotch returned her smile before leaning in for a celebratory kiss. He interlocked his fingers with hers and they continued walking toward the restaurant. They arrived quickly after that, and placed their orders before finding some empty seats and sitting down.

"Is Jack okay with me moving in?" Emily asked, worried about the young boys feelings.

"I already talked with him about it and he was ecstatic about the idea. He thinks that you are the pillow fort making queen so he was very glad that you would be there to help him make them on a daily basis." Hotch answered with a laugh. Emily just smiled happily and watched as the waiter brought out their food. She picked up her fork and took a bite of her bean burrito and let out a moan at the taste before saying "This is delicious!". Hotch just smiled and started to eat his tacos.

"How do you want to handle the staff interviews when we get back?" Emily asked, in between bites.

"I was thinking you ask the questions and I'll gauge for reactions." He replied. Emily just nodded due to her mouth full of food, which made Hotch laugh and say "You're cute when your starving." Emily swallowed and smile, her cheeks turning pink out of embarrassment.

"You know what you're getting yourself into, asking me to move in, I have A LOT of clothes." She joked as she took another bite. "That's where my second surprise comes in, I got you your own wardrobe" He smirked

"You have an answer to everything don't you?" Emily laughed quietly and taking the last bite of her lunch.

"Yup" Hotch teased, doing the same with his tacos. Emily took out her phone to check if she missed any calls, and she did, one from JJ. "Hey, JJ called, I'm gonna go outside and call her back quick, be right back." Hotch watched as Emily walked out the door and turned to walk behind the building to avoid the noise of the busy street. He waited there, sipping his soda for ten minutes or so until he decided to go get her and waked out of the restaurant. He turned around the building and saw nothing. "Emily!" He called out, slightly worried. Just then he heard her cell phone ring. He looked at the ground about fifteen feet in front of him and saw it. Her badge, gun, and cell phone on the ground with a trail of blood leading away.


End file.
